Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-04-02
"UEDER FIRE."
henry George and His Land Theory Critt-
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Mr.. Heory George does not show to
good advantage under q fire of questions.
He gets along well enough while such
pleutudinOus assertions as "Nature has
provided means for the sGstenance Of the
human race without the operation CT o.
tectlve laws" awake "the soft conclusion
OF spplsuding gloves" from well-fed
theorists, the last Of whose intents is
tina of earning their own sustenance
from the sources which "nature mas pro-
Vided." But when asked to descend
from the barren empyrean of generality
TO the solid earth of detail he treads with
a lame foot
The origin of law is in the fact that
while 'nature has provided means fOrthe
sustenenCe Of the human race" very
large majority Of the members # theracee
are averse TO the using the means. One
patient drudge raises Corn, in the hope
that it will feed himself and children dur
ing the cold of winter, and three men who
nave berries end flesh all summer kill the
drudge and take his corn. Gradually the
drudges form q protective society; they
make laws; they say that he that will not
work shall not eat; they define personal
property, assign punishment To theft,
and, as QUaTrels between themselves
occur about the choice Of lands,
they defne the rights Of realty. All this
has to be done that the means (which
nature has pTOVidrd' may be utilized.
Right of property once established, Il fol
lows naturally that some men acquire
more Of it than others. Equality of &C
qulrement j. not one Of The qualities
which nature has provided. Even Mr..
George himself acquires more money by
writing books and delivering lectures
than he could do by sticking hogs, or
weaving wool or planning lumber. Mr..
PoWderly acquires more by the exercise
Of those great abilities which his
office or Master Workman contin-
nally calls into use than he
could do by mining coal or choppng
wood. And, very properly. Messrs.
George and P0wdeTly bring scarcer ar
ticle Than mere labor into the pu0Dc mar
ket, and receive higher price for it.
Neither Of them could hud sale for their
wares in Mr.. Georges ideal country,
where Aud is eitneTCnesp or public prop
ertY. Land was public property in
America till the white man came, but
there was never an Indian market for the
executive force Of Powderly CT the liter
arY skill of George, but in al Indian
tribes disease and hunger were constant
guests, pestilence and famine frequent
visitors. Il is not as men near the con-
ditiOns (which nature has provided" that
they are happy; it is as they recede from
them.
Some perception Of all this appears to
have reached the person VINO pro-
pounded this question:
If the land was all made public, and
the banks and factories remain SIS now,
how could the people start in business?
To which Mr.. George made answer:
As they did in the first place-on the
land.
It is fair to assume that the orator was
"rattled;" it would be interesting to
know how his reply looks to him IN the
rigidity of type. Mr.. George denoUnCes
communism; the dollars which he has
honestly earned by the sale of his
books and delivery of his lee
lures he very Justly believes
m his own; he does not think that any
ole should force him into a division of
them with his poorer fellow creatures,
and so with the money which banks own.
But land is to be common. Now, let him
reconsider question and answer. A
hundred, or a hundred thousand, men,
none of whom owns cent, are placed on
the land (Which nature has provided"
the QuestiOneT asks, "HoW are they to
start IN business?" Mr.. George says,
GAS they did in the first plaCe-on the
land" We beg to assure HIM that they
won't.
When men started in business sin the
first place-on the land" man was very
different being from what he now is. He
clothed himself in skins of wild beasts,
bo oil mt oil no hal-
tered In cave; he plOwed with a crooked
stick, and he ate berries and fish or the
flesh of game while his crop was ripening.
The meauest of the prOletariat of the
meanest country of Europe will return to
no such sava2ery to develop Georgian
Utopia Progress has removed man
too far from poverty for such relapse
to be possible. Mr.. George knows this
we'll enough. He made his answer in
hurry. But st his leisure he can make no
better one unless he renOunces his!cleimto
personal property. For when the money
less men were put on the land (which
nature has provided" they would have to
be furnished with tools to work with and
with food and clothes TO last them till
their crops rioened. The banks might do
this, but they would want mort
gage on "the land which nature has
provided" and the absorbing Of land by
great proprietors would begin again. II
q government taxed the banks on their
deposits or Mr.. George on the sale OF his
books, for means to equip and subsist the
new farmers, that would be the first act
of an absolute commune, and it would have
to be followed by like acts until all the
personal property of the. country were ex-
hausted, for nothing is more certain than
that men will not work, even on "the
Isrd which nature has provided" so long
as they can i've without work.
$500 Reverb &
- Il Ill sjn,xo &C 'l,gd a caSa